Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright watch the William Hill World Championship draw being made. Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Comments(0)SOMERSET darts stars Gary Anderson and Justin Pipe have discovered who they will face first in their bids for William Hill World Championship glory.
The stars of the PDC will go head-to-head for the sports biggest prize from December 18 at Londons Alexandra Palace, where dynamic Dutchman Michael van Gerwen will aim to defend his crown.
Fresh from his weekend Players Championship Finals success, Scot Anderson who is based in Highbridge will open up against the winner of the preliminary round tussle between New Zealands Mark McGrath or American debutant Scott Kirchner.
Pipe of North Curry near Langport, a first round casualty at the hands of Premier League ace Wes Newton in Minehead, faces DPA Australian Grand Prix champion Lawrence Ryder.
Phil Taylor, the 16-time World Champion and William Hill's 15/8 pre-tournament favourite, has drawn Germany's Jyhan Artut as he begins his bid to win back the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Van Gerwen will face Bradfords Joe Cullen, while number three seed Adrian Lewis - the 2011 and 2012 champion has drawn Shropshire-based David Pallett as the emerging -youngster makes his World Championship debut.
Last year's beaten finalist Peter Wright, the number five seed, will open his challenge to go one better against Welsh debutant Gerwyn Price, the former rugby union player who has enjoyed a successful first year on the PDC circuit.
Last month's Masters champion James Wade drew Wales' Jamie Lewis, with 2010 finalist Simon Whitlock up against Darren Webster and number eight seed Dave Chisnall taking on Dutch debutant Ryan De Vreede.
Two other debutants from Holland, Christian Kist and Ron Meulenkamp, drew Jelle Klaasen and Mark Webster respectively, while emerging star Benito van de Pas takes on Paul Nicholson in his Alexandra Palace debut.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld has drawn Austrian debutant Rowby-John Rodriguez, while three-time World Champion John Part takes on the current World Youth Champion Keegan Brown.
Former finalist Andy Hamilton will take on Canadian newcomer Dave Richardson, with 2004 runner-up Kevin Painter up against the winner of the preliminary round tie between Boris Koltsov and Haruki Muramatsu.
Reigning Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting makes his PDC World Championship debut against either Holland's Jermaine Wattimena or Croatia's Robert Marijanovic.
Terry Jenkins - the runner-up in the UK Open and European Championship this year who landed a nine-dart leg at Ally Pally 12 months ago - plays Oceanic Masters winner John Weber, while Dean Winstanley takes on former semi-finalist Wayne Jones and Robert Thornton meets debutant Andrew Gilding.
Belgian brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts take on Mickey Mansell and Andy Smith respectively, while Holland's Vincent van der Voort drew Scotland's John Henderson.
Another Scot, the PDPA Qualifier winner Jason Hogg, drew Jamie Caven for his World Championship debut, with Monday's PDPA Qualifier runner-up Scott Mackenzie meeting Daryl Gurney in the preliminary round with a first round tie against Ronnie Baxter awaiting their winner.
In-form Mervyn King will play German teenager Max Hopp and Steve Beaton faces Kyle Anderson in a repeat of their meeting at the same stage two years ago, with the Australian also having hit a nine-darter in last year's event.
Former World Youth Champion Michael Smith, who knocked out Taylor 12 months ago, plays Austria's Mensur Suljovic, with Wes Newton up against either Christian Perez or Cristo Reyes.
Ian White awaits the winner of the preliminary round tie between Jani Haavisto and John Michael, while Brendan Dolan plays either Nolan Arendse or Alex Hon and Stuart Kellett, the number 32 seed, takes on either Kim Viljanen or Sascha Stein.
Source: http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Darts-Gary-Anderson-Justin-Pipe-discover-William/story-25080073-detail/story.html
